Soul Returns to Hong Kong: From Tailor Shop to Richest Woman

In the first few days of August, the landline phone at my home in Taikoo Shing rang more than a dozen times a day. There were calls from film companies asking about the numbers, newspaper editors, and even producers who somehow got hold of the numbers.

That afternoon, the phone rang again; Lin Lanying was washing vegetables in the kitchen when Lin Ying went over and answered the receiver.

"Hello, is this Ms. Lin? Our boss is very sincere. As long as you're willing to meet and give us an outline, the price is negotiable. We can even issue an empty check!" The male voice on the other end of the phone sounded a little anxious.

Lin Ying: "Thank you for your kind offer. But I'm currently lacking inspiration."

Undeterred, the other party said, "A complete script isn't necessary! A story idea will do! Just write a couple of lines, and our boss will take it!"

"I'm in my first year of secondary school now, and my studies are demanding. I need to study for a few more years," Lin Ying continued, adding, "Please give me some time."

"The price could definitely be increased further..."

"Sorry, I have no inspiration and no time." Lin Ying said politely, but then unplugged the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ying found Lin Lanying already standing at the kitchen door watching her.

"Ah Ying, won't you offend all those big bosses by refusing them like this these past few days?" Lin Lanying asked with some concern.

Lin Ying walked to the coffee table and poured a glass of warm water: "Mommy, I'm only eleven years old. If I don't write to anyone, I won't offend anyone. If I soften my heart and write to just one family today, then the remaining dozens of families will feel that I'm looking down on them, and that would truly offend everyone."

Lin Lanying thought for a moment and nodded.

Lin Ying took a sip of water: "Besides, people can't be dragged down by money. People who become famous too early don't have good endings. My three films have gone too smoothly. People outside think I'm valuable now, but that doesn't mean they'll treat me like a human being. In their eyes, I'm just a machine that lays golden eggs."

"Yes, life and brains are the most important things; you must study hard first." Lin Lanying wholeheartedly agreed.

Two days later, news of Lin Ying's decision not to write a new script reached the ears of Boss Peng, who was in mainland China handling distribution.

Mr. Peng made a long-distance call from Guangzhou back to Taikoo City: "Screenwriter Lin, I heard you're planning to take a year off from writing?"

"Uncle Peng, I'm going to start Form One now, and I'm really out of inspiration. I want to focus on my studies first." Lin Ying used the same excuse as before.

I thought Boss Peng would use a persistent and gentle approach like the others.

"Great news!" Boss Peng laughed. "If you get carried away now and take the bait from those scoundrels outside and accept a new project, I'll be worried for you."

Lin Ying jokingly asked, "Uncle Peng, aren't you in a hurry for a sequel?"

"Who isn't eager to make money? But I know when to rush and when to stop! I was exhausted after the first installment, but I still needed a break," Boss Peng said shrewdly. "Ah Ying, if you don't stop now, this industry will eat you alive!"

Lin Ying chuckled lightly, "Thank you, Uncle Peng, for shielding me."

"Don't worry about your studies!" Boss Peng readily agreed. "If anyone dares to ambush you at Taikoo City, just say my name, and I'll see who dares to disturb our screenwriter Xiao Lin from getting her full armor!"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Ying was completely relieved; as the biggest beneficiary, Boss Peng was willing to wait, so the small fry on the periphery couldn't cause any trouble.

The days passed slowly as Lin Ying studied and reviewed. Before she knew it, it was August 20th.

That morning, the doorbell rang on the fifteenth floor of Taikoo Shing. Lin Lanying went to open the door, and Chen Meishan stood outside with a beaming smile.

"Mrs. Lin, I'm here to trouble you." Chen Meishan was wearing a light beige dress today and carrying an exquisite paper bag. "I've been eyeing your cheongsam for a long time at the Peninsula Hotel celebration banquet the other day. Today I specially brought the fabric to have two sets custom-made for you."

"Please come in, Mrs. Su." Lin Lanying greeted her with a smile. "It's my honor that you trust my skills."

Chen Meishan placed the paper bag on the sofa; it contained fine silk fabric: "One set for afternoon tea, and one set for a more formal gathering. What do you think of this fabric?"

Lin Lanying reached out and touched the fabric, feeling its smooth texture: "This fabric has a good drape, making it perfect for close-fitting tailoring."

As she spoke, Lin Lanying deftly took out a measuring tape, had Chen Meishan stand still, and began to take her measurements. While measuring, Lin Lanying quickly jotted down the data in a notebook next to her.

Lin Ying was sitting at the dining table looking at her English textbook for Form 1 when she heard the noise and curiously came over.

After taking the measurements, Lin Lanying picked up a pencil on a piece of paper and quickly sketched out the style of the cheongsam and the position of the frog buttons.

Lin Ying stood beside her mother, watching her draw blueprints. Lin Lanying didn't understand ergonomics or Western sketching, but the lines of the cheongsam she drew were surprisingly smooth. Where the waist needed to be cinched in, where the slits needed to be left loose, and how the neckline should fit Chen Meishan's neck were all clearly indicated in these few simple lines.

"Mommy, you drew the curve of the neckline so accurately," Lin Ying praised sincerely.

Watching from the side, Chen Meishan nodded repeatedly: "The cheongsams made by those old tailors outside are always so tight that it's hard to breathe. Looking at Mrs. Lin's pattern, there's room for her to sit down at the waist. She really understands the needs of us ladies."

Just as the three women were discussing the cheongsam design, the doorbell rang again.

Lin Ying ran to open the door; her uncle, Lin Yaoying, stood outside, sweating profusely, holding a thick brown paper bag in his hand.

"Big sister! Ah Ying!" Lin Yaoying entered, panting. "The approval from the Land Administration Department is in! I've brought all the detailed dimensions and drawings!"

Lin Lanying immediately put down the measuring tape and cheongsam pattern in her hand, and beckoned her younger brother to sit down at the large tea table.

When Chen Meishan heard that it was about building a house for Ding, she became interested and went over to join in.

Lin Yaoying dumped all the documents from the brown paper bag onto the coffee table, then pulled out a topographical map and pointed it out to everyone: "The instructions say that the length, width, and area are as previously stated. The entire floor, once sealed off, cannot exceed 700 feet, and the total height absolutely cannot exceed 8.2 meters."

He pointed to a corner of the blueprint, his brow furrowing. "But there's a problem. Sometime ago, an illegal outbuilding was built on the west side of this plot. Now that the land has been allocated, a family lives right next to it on the west side, with only a meter between them!"

Lin Ying stared at the blueprint for a moment: "Only one meter? That means there's practically no natural light or ventilation on the west side."

"Yes." Lin Yaoying wiped his sweat. "But fortunately, the front and back are completely unobstructed, and there's a small feng shui pond to the east, which also doesn't have much of an obstruction."

Lin Ying's mind raced.

"Since the west side is blocked, we can't have a large window in the west wall. We'll either make it a solid wall or use a staircase." Lin Ying picked up the pencil Lin Lanying had used to draw the cheongsam and drew a square on a blank sheet of paper. "The first floor is for the grandparents, so they need a spacious living room and kitchen. The kitchen exhaust vent can be directed towards the back wall..."

Lin Ying quickly divided the first-floor floor plan into areas for the elderly's room, bathroom, and dining room: "Your family will live on the second floor, and we'll reserve the third floor for our guest rooms. The main water pipe should ideally run along the east side..."

Lin Yaoying looked at the layout drawn by Lin Ying and exclaimed, "Ying, what's wrong with your brain? The spacing is clearer than even the village bricklayers!"

Just as Lin Ying was about to continue drawing the staircase route on the third floor, a hand with red nail polish suddenly reached out and grabbed the pencil in her hand.

Lin Ying looked up and met Chen Meishan's disapproving face.

"Oh, Ying, stop fooling around." Chen Meishan took the pen from Lin Ying's hand and put it aside.

"Auntie, what's wrong? Is the space division incorrect?" Lin Ying asked in confusion.

Chen Meishan looked at her and sighed, "Aying, you're smart, Auntie knows that. The room you drew on this paper is square and beautiful, but it's a drawing! It's not like your mother making a cheongsam, where if she cuts it badly, she can just replace it with a piece of fabric!"

Chen Meishan pointed to the blueprints: "Do you know how to lay the electrical conduits buried in the wall? Do you know where the large and small water pipes should bend to avoid clogging? Do you know the different construction techniques used in modern renovations?"

A barrage of professional construction questions came crashing down on Lin Ying, leaving her completely stumped.

She truly didn't know that no matter how high your IQ is, without practical engineering experience, writing things down on paper is just empty talk.

Chen Meishan patted Lin Ying on the shoulder: "Professional matters should be left to professionals. Your family spent 290,000 yuan to build a luxury house. If the blueprints aren't professional, and the foremen on the construction site just try to cut corners, they might connect the water pipes backwards or use thinner wires. Then you'll have a lot of headaches later, with leaks and power outages!"

Lin Lanying nodded repeatedly, "Mrs. Su is right! Ah Ying, we can't give orders blindly."

Lin Ying wasn't one to be stubborn, and once she understood the implications, she immediately and decisively abandoned her idea of ​​drawing the picture.

"Auntie is right, I'm an amateur." Lin Ying looked at Chen Meishan and asked directly, "Since we're going to find professionals, how much would it cost to hire a knowledgeable designer to design this Ding House from start to finish?"

Chen Meishan thought for a moment: "A licensed architect in Hong Kong, who can provide the blueprints and take you to meet with the bricklayers on the construction site, will guarantee that the finished product will be exactly the same as the blueprints. I estimate it will cost at least five thousand Hong Kong dollars."

"Five thousand?!" Lin Yaoying gasped.

In Hong Kong during the 1980s, this was a considerable sum of money, equivalent to more than half a year's wages for an average worker.

Lin Ying, however, felt it was acceptable: "If you spend 290,000 yuan to build a house, and you save 5,000 yuan, but then there are problems with the house later and you're not comfortable living there, the loss will definitely be more than just tens of thousands of yuan. That 5,000 yuan is worth it."

Chen Meishan looked at Lin Ying with a smile; this little girl's mind was always so clear when it came to calculating.

"Mrs. Su, do you know anyone reliable?" Lin Lanying asked directly. "Since we're going to spend money, we should definitely find someone we know."

Chen Meishan nodded: "Of course! The Dingwu house in my hometown was designed by him. This man's surname is Liang, and he's truly talented. He can not only draw beautiful blueprints, but he also understands the ins and outs of construction. The foreman wouldn't dare try to cut corners under his nose!"

"That's great!" Lin Yaoying breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as he can keep the foreman in check."

"Then I'll go back and make a call, and I'll arrange for you to meet him in the next few days," Chen Meishan agreed with a smile.